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Expert Answers (1)

2009-07-02 21:59:37.0

Hello,

Strange as it might seem, including some vinegar in your diet may improve your blood glucose (sugar). Vinegar has been reported to decrease both fasting and postprandial (after-meal) glucose levels when used in combination with diet and exercise.

The biologically active constituent of vinegar is acetic acid, which inhibits the activity of several carbohydrate-digesting enzymes. As a result, when vinegar is present in the intestines, some sugars and starches temporarily pass through without being digested, so they have less of an impact on blood sugar.
A study indicated that people were less hungry a couple hours after consuming vinegar with bread, as opposed to bread alone,

The amounts of vinegar to take varied in the studies: a couple teaspoons of apple-cider vinegar daily to 2 tablespoons of apple-cider at bedtime.

The easiest way is by using oil and vinegar salad dressing, made with balsamic, red wine, apple-cider, or any number of flavored vinegars (avoid the fruity, sweet salad dressings, of course, or you may cancel out the benefit).

I ate a meal in Mexico that I had little control over. It was rich lamb broth loaded with red tomato sauce and hot chilies. Hand made tortillas were also served with the meal. Fresh off the griddle they were hard to say no to. Two hours after eating my glucose reading was 188. Although that is not terribly high I thought it needed lowering. I remembered reading in Dlife that 1 ounce of vinegar with peanuts will lower blood sugar. I took an ounce of apple cider vinegar and shot it like tequila, then ate about ten or so peanuts. An hour later my blood glucose level was 83. I am sure there are long term side effects for extended use of vinegar, but it worked that time. I will use this technique again in the future.

I cannot tell you why, but I personally experience lower blood sugar readings after meals when vinegar is a part of the meal, like using a vinaigrette salad dressing . I also experience similar results if I have one or two mixed drinks (scotch and water for me) just before or with dinner.

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